Mass incarceration and economic inequality

One of the best things about the Occupy Movement is the opportunity to
give visibility to hidden injustice issues and to make connections
between economic inequality and other kinds of injustices.

Mass incarceration in the U.S. is one of those hidden injustices —
hard as it is to believe that they can hide the warehousing and abuse
of 2.3 million people in prison.

How is mass incarceration connected to the economic inequality that
the Occupy Movement stands against?

The vast concentration of global wealth and power in the hands of the
1% did not come about by peaceful means. It came from the theft of the
land, labor, and resources of the whole world. It was achieved by
violence (slavery, genocide of indigenous people, wars of conquest,
sweatshop labor) and it is maintained by more violence. Permanent
global wars are one expression of the violence that maintains the
power of the 1%. The criminal INjustice system of mass incarceration,
overwhelmingly of people of color and poor people, is the domestic
equivalent of those wars. It is a system of force which keeps unjust
power and wealth in place.

In recognition of these realities, an Occupy Oakland group,
Occupy4Prisoners, has called for a national Occupy day of solidarity
with prisoners on February 20th.

In Albany, the Radical Caucus of Occupy Albany and the Albany team of
New York State Prisoner Justice Network are collaborating on two
events in answer to the call.

The Last Graduation tells the story of prisoners’ hunger for
education, and follows the heartbreaking shutdown of federal and state
aid eligibility which effectively ended prison college programs —
despite (or because of?) overwhelming evidence that education is a
prime path to successful re-entry.
With a surprise appearance by one of the graduates!!
Free and wheelchair accessible.

PEOPLE’S MIC IN SUPPORT OF JUSTICE FOR POLITICAL PRISONER JALIL
ANTHONY BOTTOM AND AGAINST ABUSIVE SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012, noon at the Capitol, Washington Avenue
side, Albany.
Jalil Anthony Bottom, former Black Panther who has been in prison for
over 40 years and is currently incarcerated at Attica, was just
sentenced to SIX MONTHS OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT FOR POSSESSION OF 14 PHOTOS of memorial services for 2 former Black Panthers — photos
which came to him legally through prison mail.
Isolation=torture! Overturn Jalil’s sentence and end the abusive use
of solitary confinement!